Friday, February 11, 2011

I love Valentine's Day. (This might be because I base my love of holidays on how cute they are and Valentine's Day, after all, is by far the cutest of days.)

I love, in particular, the kitschiness of it all. I mean, it's pink and red and glittery and doily-y and terrifically garish. What's not to love? I delight in the cloying sentimentality which is saying something for a girl who, as a rule, avoids sentimentality in general. I like that, as a society, we all agree that on one day we will act like elementary-schoolers and exchange silly cards with silly poems, eat red and pink candies and be dorky.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Did I tell you that my beloved little brother is back in Utah and just living a measly 45 minutes away? (!) Isn't that a wonderful thing? I dearly love being a sister; last year was a decidedly wretched year with no siblings nearby to be sisterly to. What a delightful gift it is to have him here.

Last week we had dinner together and he mentioned he'd been in a little fender-bender. Well, not even a fender-bender. It was like a fender-teenylittlescratcher. A few days later I was on the phone with my dad and asked, Hey, have you talked to Jimmy lately?" After being told they'd spoken the day before I said, "Oh, so you know about the accident."

"What accident!?!" my father thundered.

DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!

"Oh, nothing," I lied, except I am an exceptionally bad liar and I'm sure I wasn't convincing, what with my voice being three octaves above it's normal range.

"What happened, Kim?" the old man gritted and I had no choice but to feed him a story.

"Um, no just he had an accident . . . in class . . . he, uh, . . . wet his pants."

"What?!"

"Oh, yeah, weird right? He's like totally embarrassed about it so don't mention it to him. Like ever."

Because, in my mind, my father would rather learn that his 21-year-old son lost bladder control during a college lecture than know that there is a half-inch long scratch on his 15-year-old Buick.

Yep.

And maybe this should stand as a reminder to all my siblings: if you are keeping something from our parents you have to tell me not to say anything because, when backed into a corner, I might come up with a story that's much, much worse.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

One of the most precious moments for an early childhood teacher is when one of your darling little ones climbs into your lap, wraps his arms round your neck, gazes into your eyes and says, "I love you."

Much more commonly, a child will climb into your lap, wrap his arms round your neck, gaze into your eyes and then sneeze directly into your open mouth.

AND, once this happens to you at least once a week during every cold and flu season for several years in a row, you probably won't even bat an eye. In fact, you'll probably just rinse your mouth with soda and call it good. (I'm pretty sure Dr Pepper is a dentist.)

Young children won't share toys without a fight, but they're generous with their mucus.

Those who interact with these lovable little carrier monkeys tend, until their adaptive immune system kicks in, to be forever sick with something. Usually something gross. Luckily, I've been exposed to enough germs to last a lifetime and usually only get knock-down sick once or twice a year. Last week was my one allotted illness for the year. A couple weeks ago I was at the receiving end of a terribly slobbery toddler-kiss; the kisser was diagnosed hours later with RSV. Awesome.

I didn't mind the fever, the croupy cough and the general achiness but I hated losing my voice for over a week. (For someone who talks as much as Kelly Kapoor, loss of voice is tantamount to loss of limb.) In fact, I still haven't quite recovered and if you call me you can hear firsthand what my roommate is calling my 1-900 number voice.

I took a couple days off work to recover and OH MY GOSH ARE SICK DAYS AWESOME OR WHAT? I totally forgot being home sick is pretty much the best time ever. And also? How long are days? I couldn't believe it. When you're rushing around with work, church, family, chores and whatnot the days never seem long enough. But when you're in your sweats watching Law & Order: SVU and eating a grilled cheese sandwich? They are niiiiiiice and long. (Speaking of grilled cheese sandwiches, is 3 in 24 hours too many??)

Every once in a while I would get up and pad around the house in my slippers but seeing the unmade bed in the bedroom, the unwashed hair in the bathroom mirror and the atrociously unmopped kitchen floor would drive me back to my blanket cocoon and dreamy Elliot Stabler.

HELLO!

Oh, but that kitchen floor. It is perfectly horrendous. I used to be really on the ball with the floor mopping. Every other Saturday, plus whenever we had company, plus whenever anything spilled, I was all over it. But lately? I don't know. It's just not happening. Not to mention I can't find the mop anywhere. Or the bucket, come to think of it. I may have accidentally maliciously destroyed them in my sleep. I've done the whole Swiffer WetJet thing occasionally over the past couple months (did I just admit to the Internet that I haven't properly mopped my kitchen floor in a couple months?) but usually I look pointedly away as I walk into the kitchen with the idea that if I can't see the floor, it doesn't exist and therefore ne'er needs a mopping.

But that's the beauty of sick days. It's the best excuse for everything. The floor is dirty? Too bad. I'm sick. I shouldn't be eating so many butter-laden carbs? Well, I'm sick. I'm allowed. (Wait--I have a cell phone picture to go along with this . . . )